Anisotropy and Inhomogeneity in Drifter Dispersion
Abstract
Ocean flows are known to be locally anisotropic and inhomogeneous. Nonetheless, the ocean's statistical dispersion properties are traditionally assumed to be isotropic and homogeneous. Here, we investigate the effect of local anisotropy and inhomogeneity on dispersion statistics, using a unique data set of roughly 300 near‐surface drifters that were launched within 10 days in the summer of 2012. The unique launch strategy based on nested triplets resulted in an unusually large number of nearly colocated drifter pairs. Thus, this data set is ideally suited for an estimate of the directional bias and inhomogeneity effects inherent in drifter pair statistics.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Pub Defense Publication
- Publication Date
- Dec 01, 2019
- Source ID
- 10.1029/2019jc015179
Entities
People
- A. D. Kirwan
- B. L. Lipphardt Jr.
- Helga S Huntley
Organizations
- Office of Naval Research
- University of Delaware